As per usual we are selling off some of our older hire bikes and have the following left in stock. All bikes are full carbon fork and frame and may have minor marks on them from general use. We use protective tape on the bikes during the rental so once removed they are good clean bikes. All bikes come with a Compact chainset 50-34 and also an 11 speed cassette with gear ratios of 11-32.

Stage 13 of this year’s TdF travelled south from Saint-Etienne to Chamrousse – a summit finish southeast of Grenoble in the Belledonne mountain range. The climb is roughly 21km long and very regular on a wide, well surfaced road. The resort was used for the 1968 winter olympics and many of the Olympic ski runs are still in use during the winter.

In contrast to this ascent, there is a more taxing route up. The Col Luitel joins the Romanche Valley with Chamrousse 1750. The road is narrow and poorly paved. You climb over 800m in 8km and the gradient only gets steeper as you climb. The Luitel brings you out about 6km from the summit of Chamrousse 1750.

For this year’s Tour de France tour, we took the guests up the Luitel to watch the stage finish. The day was superb with fantastic weather. Watching the finish on Chamrousse was much different than AdH the year before. The crowds were less and you were able to ride unhindered almost to the finish. We were stood just before Nibali’s attack. He looked very composed in comparison to the others – riding closed mouthed and seemingly putting nothing through the pedals!

Chamrousse is my favourite climb and without a doubt the best descent in the area. Come ride it with us on the Tour of the Oisans!

I’ve just finished the build of my steel Prompt D927. The bike was finished with a Dura Ace 7800 groupset and Deda components.

The frame rides superbly. The ride is much less harsh than carbon and thus is suited to longer rides. I plan to take the bike round Italy and Spain next spring.

The added weight off the bike is not noticable perhaps due to the increased comfort. I even managed to set a pb up Villard Reculas on its maiden voyage. The frame is responsive out of the saddle and very solid going downhill. Having ridden the bike a few times, I’m starting to wonder what all the hype is about carbon!

Took my son Zac up to Les 2 Alpes for the opening weekend of the mountainbiking lift season for 2014. I felt slightly conspicuous with my short travel carbon prompt p241 29 er amongst all the long travel downhill bikes.

I did at least wear a full face helmet / baggy shorts and body armour.

I soon found out the bike handled just fine and we were soon passing our longer travelled friends. The tight switchbacks were a little harder on the 29 er but the bike and myself handled them fine.

It was also great following Zac down the trails. He has a real style now going airborne at every available moment.

The Col de la Madeleine links the Tarentaise & Maurienne valleys. Even though the panel at the summit reads 2,000m, the real height is 1,993m. The Madeleine has been used in the Tour de France 25 times and also forms part of the Route des Grandes Alpes – a route developed by the Touring club de France to promote cyclo and automobile tourism whilst linking all the valleys of the Alps from north to south.

The southern ascent of the Col de la Madeleine is 19.3km long at an average gradient of 8%. Starting from La Chambre, the climb is very regular – a constant battery of 8-9% through thick woodland. The ski resort of Saint-François-Longchamp provides a brief respite and the woodland clears. From here you can see road winding towards the peak of the Cheval Noir below which the summit of the col is perched.

Last week Phil lead a vehicle supported tour to the Col de la Madeleine. After dropping all but one at the top of the Croix de Fer, the guys descended towards La Chambre via the short climb up the Col du Mollard. From here they started the ascent of the Madeleine and met Phil at the summit. After the descent all but one got in the minibus to start the journey home over the Col du Glandon. The ‘one’- Crawford – decided Phil’s vehicle support was obviously not up to scratch and so decided to ride the whole route. This monstrous ride takes in the Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Mollard, Col de la Madeleine and finally the Col du Glandon before returning to Bourg d’Oisans. A ride of 180km with a total ascent of 6000m! At the summit, Phil also met a Dutch group who were using PROMPT D211 rental bikes. They had also set out on aforementioned route!